Yaric ducked onto the rear platform and waited for the arrows to stop falling. He knew it would be instinctual to loose the first shots as a volley, even if it wasn’t intended, and he planned to use the gap between volleys to get to the palisade.
His personal bow was up top, but there were more than enough bows stored all along the wall. Seeing his gap, Yaric sprinted across the raised walkway, going faster than felt safe. Reaching the wall, he looked over.
Their attackers had fallen into chaos. Not used to working together, lines had broken all over, with teams moving individually instead of as one organized whole. As he watched, one team broke ranks to rush to the wall first, and they were soon followed by everyone else. He grabbed the nearest bow as arrows whizzed past and started firing back, not at the other archers in the rear, but at the assault force below.
They had reached the ditch and were all jumping down, giving him the perfect opportunity to put arrows into the ranks behind. Everyone else was doing the same, just as Lauren had drilled them.
Then they reached the wall, and in an uncoordinated mess, started throwing ropes over. The idea was good. So many attackers putting so many grappling hooks over the wall would be almost impossible to defend against, especially since once someone started climbing, their weight would make it difficult to pull off the hook, even for an arcanist.
But they were well prepared. Hatchets lining the wall were quickly picked up, and the ropes were cut almost as quickly as they were thrown over. Even worse for the attackers, the ropes were actually easier to cut when taut against the wooden palisade, so many were caught a meter or more off the ground.
There was a sudden pause below, as the rushed assault ground to a halt. Their plan had been to scale the ropes, all of which now lay cut, their hooks on the wrong side of the wall and already claimed by Team Shadow.
Not knowing what to do, everyone began pulling back.
As far as a quick rush went, it wasn’t a bad idea. Quick and easy to implement, it could very well have allowed the attackers to take the wall in the first few minutes, especially with their numbers. But a 4 meter high palisade made a numbers advantage useless if they couldn’t get up. Even better for Team Shadow, the ropes could be cut while sheltering behind the wall, so the large number of archers suppressing the defenders didn’t actually play any role.
Both sides began conserving arrows when the retreating force were halfway back to the tree line, leaving two dozen fallen attackers behind. Usually, that would have been pretty impressive, but they still had an overwhelming numbers advantage. That was the only reason anyone would have even risked such a hasty assault to begin with. There was no downside to failing, only opportunity.
“That was a mess,” Chelsea said when the others arrived. She had watched the whole thing from the rear, where she had been directing the archers. She currently occupied a unique position. Just like Chris’s team, her team leader was not currently in the game, however, she was still consulted as if she were. Which is not entirely incorrect, as she was functionally the 2nd in command. Team Unyielding actually had four ‘lieutenants’, which in some ways was more effective, but as none were above the others, no one could claim command in Chris’s place.
Moreover, no one really worked together or had overall command between the teams. They all seemed to be suspicious of each other or try to push themselves as overall commander. With Chelsea’s position of not really being a team captain, combined with the fact that she had so few team members in the game at the moment, removing her as a threat, she had become the de facto bridge between the other teams.
Of course, she had also been the one to summon everyone, and to let them know what had happened. No one doubted her skill there either. It wasn’t easy to tail Team Shadow, as they were known to live up to their name. They always had people screening them. However, it wasn’t possible to cover an entire team from every direction at all times, and Chelsea was a skilled tracker and scout in her own right. Everyone in her year knew of her hunting prowess due to the expedition against the kobolds, and they had all learnt of her childhood hunting with her father from a very young age. Once she was aware of their current position, not even Yaric or Lauren had been able to detect the lone scout stalking them.
Their single mistake had been assuming that she would fight to the end to buy as much time as possible, instead of being able to escape herself. Understandable, considering that she would have been back in the game the very next day. She herself had considered it. Now though, she stood before their hidden fort, surrounded by every other student still standing.
And she was not impressed.
“No, that really was a good idea,” Simon responded, nodding to Rikard, Andrew’s 2nd in command. “Our losses are temporary, theirs aren’t.”
“What do you mean?” asked Patrick, one of the 5th year captains.
“Tomorrow is the next supply drop. All of our players will come back, but their players will have up to a hundred of us waiting to send them straight back out. Whatever size force we need to send, we can. This game is over for them now.”
“I don’t think they lost anyone,” Andrew growled, glaring at his own 2nd in command. They had been friends right from the first day at the Academy, but recently, Rikard had been becoming more and more of a problem. They fought frequently now, though Rikard always backed down.
‘Because he knows I’m right,’ Andrew thought to himself, still looking at Rikard. ‘The undisputed number one student in his year should never be relegated to repeating a year. It’s criminal! Especially when I engineered what would have been the greatest victory in the history of the competition, only to have the wannabe 5th years, with delusions of grandeur, refuse to play once they realized they were about to lose. And I’m the one who got relegated!
‘Everyone somehow seems to think they won, but Rikard doesn’t care that other people have been convinced that we lost. At best it was a draw. Rikard got relegated too and the stupid idiot thinks ‘it’s a good opportunity to build stronger foundations’… Moron! Sven and Yaric sabotaged me, and the only way to recover is to show I’m still the best! Even those idiots Artur and John want revenge, and they probably deserved to be relegated!’
Andrew wore his anger and frustration openly, making everyone else uncomfortable and even a little sympathetic toward Rikard. He hadn’t done anything to deserve such hostility from his friend.
“Let’s move on,” Simon suggested reasonably. “Every Shadow we take out today is a free win, after tomorrow we will have to wait an entire week for our players to come back. We should push at least one more attack today.”
“How?” Chelsea asked immediately, trying to ensure that the conversation stayed on track.
“Everyone on my team had their ropes cut, I assume it’s the same with yours?” Simon asked, looking around. Seeing their nods, he quickly continued, “So if we can’t go over, we go through. We take their wall down while inflicting as many casualties as we can.
"But I also think we need to mix the teams. As we are now, every team competes instead of working together. If we’re all mixed, there will only be the ally next to you. There are a lot of very large shields amongst us. We can form one large, proper shield wall, covering our heads from archers as well. Then we slowly march to the wall and just chop everything down.”
“You’re forgetting that they might just run. You have no idea how slippery they are. They don’t fight if they think they’re going to lose,” Andrew added, still annoyed that Team Shadow were now in possession of all eight flags, when this was his final chance to prove his superiority.
“So what if they do?” Simon replied. “That’s also a win. They have to keep those flags in their fort for 72 hours, if we make them run, they can’t win. Though I don’t see how they can escape from this. That fort is much harder to take than ours, with only one side to defend, but it also traps them. The boundary does too. The best they could do is retreat up that cliff, and that will trap them in an even smaller space. Good luck getting an entire team down that cliff face.”
“What if their fort is actually up there though?” Rikard asked, voicing his biggest fear.
“I’m sure it is,” Chelsea replied, “I know how they think. We’re going to have to get up there next.”
“Why don’t we do it now? Attack the flanks?”
“Because it’s too easy to defend. We need to reduce their numbers while we can do it for free,” Andrew said, taking over. “Once we force them up that hill, we’ll be able to attack from three directions, and they’ll have very few team members left. Like Simon said, we have plenty of tower shields. I vote we form a line fifty people wide, facing an entire team of tower shields against them. Then we can go three deep, and have the rest with bows at the rear. They did well last time, Shadows were ducking all over the place.”
“But will that be enough?” Rikard asked, earning himself another glare.
“Will that be enough?” Andrew scoffed. “Four teams completely shielded and supported by more than a full team of archers from the rear? What could arrows and spears do against that? No, I like Simon’s idea. We will smash our way through. And there’s nothing they can do to stop us.”
“That went well,” Yaric said, now back on top of the mesa.
“It could have been worse,” Sven agreed hesitantly.
Lauren, Li Na, Anton and Delmar were currently with them, discussing a way forward while the rest of the team collected arrows and rechecked the equipment. Yaric had even taken the time to fetch the bow he had brought himself. It had a higher draw weight than the others, and he felt better using a more familiar bow. Not to mention a more powerful one.
“They know their casualties will be replaced and ours won’t,” Lauren pointed out. “They can afford to be reckless.”
“How bad were our casualties?”
“Twelve hit,” Lauren replied, wincing. “No one was red, but Greta, Viktor and Kaeden won’t be at 100% until tomorrow. The others were minor enough that the bandages healed them completely.”
“But that’s good?” Yaric asked uncertainly, having seen Lauren’s concern.
“No, not really. We had a quarter of our team hit with the first attack. I’m worried about how quickly we will lose teammates.”
“We’ve prepared well, all we can do now is our best,” Yaric replied, trying to reassure her.
“Yeah, and the more of them there are, the more targets we get,” Li Na added enthusiastically. “Especially after dummy here took away my chance at a record!”
“Huh?”
“You shot Cormac just before I was going to get him.”
“So?”
“So he’s a team leader! Last year the Council Head pointed out that I’d ‘killed’ two team leaders myself. She said that no one had ever done more than two, and I’ve already got Andrew this year. Maybe one of those from the 5th years was another, but Cormac would have guaranteed I only needed one more!”
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Yaric asked in unison with the others.
“Wasn’t important,” Li Na replied with a shrug.
Yaric was upset that he’d messed up her goal, but they had far more important things going on at the moment.
“Let’s try to keep our bigger plans secret,” Sven instructed. “No one we take out today will be gone for long, so I don’t want to waste any tricks. That said, it would be stupid to lose when we still have cards to play. Yaric, you’re going to be right at the front, so I’ll leave the decision to you. Don’t call for any major plays unless you have to, but don’t take any chances. We’re relying on your discretion.
“Lina, you keep the wall supplied like you’ve been doing, but be ready to fall back in case Yaric calls for one of the big plans. Same goes for you Anton.
“Lauren, keep sorting out any casualties and make sure we rotate everyone back into the fight. We’re going to need every fighter we have. We are outnumbered enough that I doubt many of us will be able to assist if someone nearby gets wounded, we’ll be too busy fighting all these teams.
“Delmar, you keep managing the archers on the wall. Yaric will be coordinating targets and fire, but he’s managing the front wall as well, so you need to keep the other archers in line.
“We’re stuck defending for now, so they have the initiative. You all know how much I hate having to wait for someone else to do something and just respond, let’s see if we can make them respond to us.”
Just then, dozens of students began filtering back out of the trees in front of their fort. The sun was starting to get low, and it was almost directly behind Team Shadow. That gave Yaric and his friends a spectacular view of the scene below, with Team Shadow’s fort justly shrouded in shadow and their attackers looking into the sun. Two hundred people were grouped below, organizing themselves into rows and trying to get into position.
“This doesn’t look good,” Yaric murmured, looking down at the row of large shields.
“Do you think we can take them when they go into the ditch?” Sven asked, also concerned.
“Maybe… Every row looks like they have shields though. If they are planning to raise them over their heads, they can easily drop them down when the row in front jumps. It will make… By the abyss!” he swore, watching them do just that while he was still talking. The massive force below them were still trying to organize themselves, but all those already in position were almost entirely covered by shields.
“I saw a lot of axes,” Lauren pointed out.
“Yeah, they’re going for our wall.”
No one needed to confirm Li Na’s statement, they all knew what was coming next.
“I’m going to get into position and make sure we’re ready,” Delmar said, already running for the nearest rope ladder.
“You might want to get your little project ready,” Yaric said, nudging Sven without taking his eyes off the scene below and eliciting a massive smirk from Li Na. “I don’t think we’re going to have any other choice.”
“Don’t worry,” Lauren added sympathetically. “It’s not a once off idea. We won’t have the element of surprise next time, but we can still add it to the rest of the full-time defenses.”
“Yeah! The more the better!”
Yaric had to get to the wall before everything started, so he left them to it. He’d already taken his quiver with the signal arrows, and had it secured over his back. Once he got to the wall, he strapped a second quiver with regular arrows to his waist and got himself ready. Up and down the wall, bows were waiting with arrows already nocked. Over thirty archers would normally be a formidable force to attack, but against the numbers arrayed before them, Yaric felt like he was blowing against the wind.
Turning around, Yaric waved his bow toward Lauren, who was already on the rear platform. At his signal, she immediately started getting their supply runners ready, not with spare arrows and spears, but with bows of their own. Their job would be to fire over the walls at a much higher trajectory, and to try and hit the archers in the tree line. They would be firing at targets they couldn’t see, but even if they only disrupted their opponents a little, it would help tremendously.
Team Every Other Team were almost ready. Yaric could already see that they wouldn’t be able to do much. Sure, they would definitely inflict casualties, but everyone on the wall could take out five attackers and they would still be facing another team. They had no chance of keeping those axes away from their walls.
Yaric waved to Sven up at the top of the cliff, and saw him wave back. Soon, Li Na, Anton and Gerrick were jumping onto Sven’s high platforms and ducking behind his screens. Yaric could see Li Na’s grin all the way from the wall. He just hoped that Sven’s project would hold together long enough to make a difference.
Less than a minute later, a whistle blew, and the line of shields began shuffling forward. Seeing their movement and realizing that they were now all under cover and committed to their attack, Yaric raised his bow high and aimed to his right, firing up and away from the battlefield.
Another whistle rang out, this one even louder and as much a scream as a whistle, as Yaric’s signal arrow streaked through the sky.
The screens on the high platforms dropped.
‘This sucks,’ Stuart thought, holding his shield over his head as he shuffled along with the second line, clutching a large axe. He’d been held back, which meant he had a new class as well, but he’d been lucky enough to be selected by Simon. Simon was almost as talented as Sven or Lauren, and he was just as nice. What really sucked was right now, being stuck with the assault team.
Their force was formidable, and their success was absolutely guaranteed, but Stuart still had his doubts. He kept those to himself though, and focused on doing his job.
Moving inside a formation like this was hard work. Only the front line could see ahead, and even they could barely see anything. Those behind them had to move at the same pace, walking closely together and trying not to step on anyone’s feet. You were always either bumping into someone in front of you, or being bumped into from behind. All the while, any arrows that struck the shields would roll and slide over the side, falling harmlessly between the cracks like rain.
The pace was also slow, as each row of fifty students had to keep together and keep their shields locked, which combined with walking so tightly together, meant that everyone shuffled along slowly.
Rows of shields blocked the air while closely packed bodies made the formation uncomfortably warm. Sounds outside were muffled, and the sounds of those right next to you drowned out any instructions from teammates further than three people away. There was no way to issue further commands, they were committed now.
All in all, Stuart was being bumped around in a hot, breathless formation that left him sweaty, uncomfortable, deaf and blind. And he was attacking Sven and Lauren.
He had raised his shield over his head at the whistle, just like everyone else, and started shuffling forward. He’d only taken a few steps though when he thought he heard a second whistle, but this one was more like a banshee. It was faint, almost impossible to hear under the shields and over the heavy breathing and shuffling feet of those around him, but it just seemed to go on and on, in a long, drawn-out wail.
Stuart had a bad feeling about this assault, and he wished he’d been able to stay back with the archers.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
Loud noises sounded out from both his left and right, in rapid succession. He thought he could hear shouts as well, but they were too far from him to be sure. Too far unfortunately was not very far at all.
He’d gone several short steps further, travelling maybe 5 meters, when another round of cracks rang out. This time he distinctly heard cursing, and Stuart began to wonder if Li Na had been sent out with her mace. But no, the front line was armed with swords, not axes. No one would last long if they were in front of them, and not even Yaric could fire his bow with that much power.
CRACK! CRACK!
CRACK!
Two more hit, followed by a third a moment later. Their line began to falter as the students under the shields began shouting in confusion. Questions and insults vied for attention as everyone tried to shout over those next to them, the shields around them only working to amplify their voices. The whole formation paused when several sections stopped moving, forcing everyone to a halt.
Stuart had just leaned to the side to ask a friend what was going on, when the loudest crack yet rang out, and the next thing Stuart knew, he was lying on his back, the guy who had been in front lying over him as well. Stuart tried to move, but his body didn’t respond. Glancing at his splayed-out arm, Stuart confirmed the impossible.
‘I was behind someone else AND their shield! What in the abyss did those guys do this time! And how am I dead?!’
Stuart lay unmoving, occasionally getting stepped on, and listening for the inevitable cracks that he knew would follow. A barrage of arrows had followed his fall, flying through the gap left by the fallen frontliner.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
Cool air greeted Stuart as his formation finally broke, walking backward in small sections, prompting everyone nearby to do the same, until eventually everyone broke and ran, making for the trees.
‘At least being dead means I can breathe…’
Yaric watched the screens drop across all three platforms. On top of each one was a tall tree stump, supporting one end of a plank of wood. That end was capped with a leaf spring, stretched out horizontally, but bowed back to the student who stood at the other end, looking down the length. A tight cord was stretched between each end of the leaf springs, and currently drawn all the way back, with a large bolt made from a cut spear nestled in front, wood shavings functioning as fletching at the rear.
Yaric looked from the glinting spearhead at the front to the eyes with the excited glint at the rear, and he didn’t know which he’d rather face. Li Na had the massive ballista aimed down at the attacking force below and was already rocking back and forth on her feet. It was technically a siege crossbow, but Li Na had called it a ballista when she’d first seen it, and no matter how many times Sven corrected her, she refused to call it anything else.
Yaric waved for her to fire when ready, and she quickly glanced to her left and right to make sure the others were ready as well.
“Light ‘em –“ Li Na shouted, cutting off her own words by firing her crossbow early and sending a massive bolt streaking through the air. Everyone already knew what she’d said, as she’d made a comment the day before that these bows would light up every shield in range, and kept repeating the joke to anyone who would listen.
She wasn’t joking though.
Yaric thought he heard a faint ‘thunk’ from the bows, but the sound was almost immediately drowned out by the massive 'cracks' coming from the attacking force. The bolts hit three shields, and all three shields splintered. Smashing bolts through shields didn’t make holes in the shields, they made firewood.
As soon as the frontline went down, Yaric and the other archers fired a volley into the gap, and they kept going while Li Na and her helpers rushed to attach the mobile winches and get the bows ready for another shot.
The whole wall had frozen for an instant when they’d seen not one, but two red shields in each gap. The bolts were considered lethal even through the shields, and not only to the poor fool holding the shield, but anyone behind them as well. Yaric had no idea how their medallions could even work that out.
Twelve gaps were opened up before the attackers faltered, almost at the defensive ditch. They didn’t have that much further to go, but another round of bolts opened up gaps thirteen through fifteen, and yet more attackers fell to the arrows that swiftly followed.
Then they started a retreat, which soon turned into a run as yet another round of bolts plowed through the retreating line. They didn’t stop at the tree line, disappearing from sight as they all scrambled to get to safety, terrified of the unknown weapon mowing them down like grass.
The leaders stood there staring, their faces pale.
Feeling bold, Yaric stood up tall and waved cheerily.
“Come back!” Li Na called loudly from behind him. “We still have lots more bolts! We have enough for everyone!”
No one took her up on the offer.
‘Stupid kids,' Wizard Lindquist grumbled to himself, quickly casting a spell to catch more bolts and slow them down before impact, lest they overwhelm the medallions and actually kill someone. He quickly activated the medallions of those in the second row as well, knowing that they were certain to have been killed.
‘This whole year is a problem year. First these idiots stumble into an abnormal kobold infestation, running me ragged. I had to save that Miller kid twice when the kobolds cut him off the first time he found them,’ Lindquist thought, remembering how he’d been forced to raise those kobolds into the trees and drop them after Yaric had passed, still running and being pursued by the others and left none the wiser.
‘Damn fool almost died when he strolled right through that kobold raid.’ He shuddered at the memory of Yaric coming back in the dark and unknowingly walking through the attack, finding himself in the middle of the kobolds and running alongside them. The wizard had almost been too late to save him that time. Technically, he had been too late, as it was Yaric who managed to twist and avoid the spear thrust that would have killed him, instead only ending up badly wounded. That could have ended in tragedy. High Wizard Lloyd Chen would have had his head, and no one would have dared to try and save him.
‘Then last year he shoots that kid poor out of a tree. Stupid idiot! As if the medallions can save you from falling on your head and breaking your neck. The kid would have died if I hadn’t caught him. And now this year they’ve managed to make weapons that can be lethal even with the shields! Who cares about dangerous circumstances, let's just make every shot lethal!'
“Suzu,” Wizard Serina suddenly called, communicating through a spell and almost distracting him from his task.
“What?” he snapped. “I’m busy!” Wizard Lindquist slowed three more bolts at the last moment and activated more shields manually. This time one of them caused three shields to turn red. At least Serina had the courtesy to use a spell that allowed him to respond verbally.
“We’ve made contact with the Academy.”
“What?!” he blurted, startled by the information. “You really think they could win?”
“It’s a possibility. They have a plan that could eke out a victory. We’re still waiting for the reply, but they’re going to have to scramble to get ready if these kids go back so soon.”
“Ok, fine. Thanks for letting me know.”
Serina’s spell visibly faded. She was always considerate like that.
‘At least this can’t get any worse!’
Yaric met up with everyone on top of their mesa. They were all smiling.
“We didn’t have a single casualty that time,” Lauren immediately exclaimed.
“Those siege bows were great,” Yaric agreed.
“Ballista.”
“And unless they want to attack us in the dark,” Sven added, glancing behind himself at the setting sun, “we’re not going to lose anyone today. Unfortunately, they will be seven full teams by lunchtime tomorrow. And we’re running out of options.”
“You think we’re going to lose?” Yaric asked, shocked.
“No. Like I said, we’re relying on you.” Sven clapped Yaric on his shoulder and shook him.
“But what can I do? There’s no play I can call that will fight them off. Not even your siege bows can stop that army.”
"Ballista."
“Agreed. There are so many of them they can just dig their way through us if they choose to. We can only delay them for as long as we can.”
“Then what do you want me to do?”
“We’ve just been discussing that. We want you to take the flags tonight and leave…”
“You’re crazy. That is giving up! The timer will stop. And we can’t win without a fort to put the flags in!”
“Who said we won’t have a fort for the flags? There are seven of them sitting out there, empty and unused.”
“You want to use one of the other teams’ forts?”
“Why not? We can’t spare more than five of us, but if you leave tonight, we will hold them off for as long as we can. You will have to capture one of the forts, but after that you can sit and wait. We’ve worked out a way to delay them even if they get up here. And if that still doesn’t buy you enough time, they’re going to be spinning in circles trying to figure out where you went.
“It’s a big risk, I know. But think of it this way. If we can win by holding them off, we win with the flags somewhere else. And if we can’t, we still have a chance to win with the flags somewhere else. We think that our biggest risk will be tomorrow, when the supplies come in. Someone might go to the fort for that, but we doubt it. They will believe they have only tomorrow and half of the next day to stop us, so they’re far more likely to have everyone else come straight here.
“So? Do you think you can do it?”
“Uhhh… I’d still need to be able to escape without being seen.”
“We have that covered. Where would you go?”
“One of the camps on the far side, definitely. That way we will get extra time if the mesa falls – they’d have to search everywhere from here to the other side before they come across us.”
“Team Spearhead’s camp?” Lauren asked, as they were the camp that was furthest away.
“I don’t think so, their camp was destroyed recently.”
“Then where?”
“Andrew’s camp.” Li Na said decisively. “It’s also far, and it’s well built.”
“You can’t choose them because of a personal vendetta,” Sven said diplomatically. “I still don’t even know what you have against them.”
“That’s not why,” Li Na retorted. “Andrew will keep as many people here as he can. Even if he isn’t planning to double cross the others, he will be scared that they will try to do it to him. No way he leaves anyone behind if he doesn’t have to. And there’s no way he lets anyone go back.”
“That’s… That actually makes sense. Ok… Sorry, you’re right.”
“Apology accepted, just don’t do it again.”
“Take Lina with you,” Lauren suggested, simultaneously making clear that the idea was already decided. “She’s better at attacking than defending… no offense.”
“None taken, that was a compliment. Thank you for the long overdue acknowledgement of my talents.”
“Ok, so I leave with Lina and three others,” Yaric said, trying to bring everything back on track. “How do I get out. And what happens if they try to attack tonight?”
“Leave that to us. Pick the remaining three for your team and have everything ready to go, and I’ll call you when it’s time. I know it might be difficult but try to get some sleep for now,” Sven said.
Lauren grabbed his arm to get his attention. “Lina and the others will help you to capture the fort, but you might have to make your own plans, so pick whoever you think is best. The other reason we thought this was best was escape. If the flags are here and they take this mesa, we’re done for. If you escape and capture someone else’s fort, then you will have the option to run and hide in a worst-case scenario. Make sure you have whatever you need, don’t compromise. Just like with Lina, she’s great with the siege bows…”
“Ballista.”
“...but we won’t miss her.”
Yaric accepted his fate, and ran to get things organized. He quickly picked his team and got them up to speed, then started collecting the things they would need. Kaeden was the first pick. He was a good fighter, and had improved dramatically over the last year. What’s more, he was one of the wounded, so it would have little impact on their defense, while he would be back to full strength not long after capturing a fort.
Kaylin was next, and it had nothing to do with the similar sounding names. Kaylin had not been one of the original 5th years chosen as scouts, but she had stepped into the role this year and done well. She would be a real asset if they needed to cut their losses and hide.
Then Yaric picked Marlon. There just wasn’t anyone else you could pick when it came to holding and protecting the flags.
They all took bows, three quivers, axes, spades and their personal weapons. Lauren insisted that they have all the food they would need as well, as no one knew what would be left inside the camp. Once they were done, they all tried to sleep, dozing fitfully, until Sven came to wake them up.
“Come on,” he called, gesturing for them to follow. He led them to the south side of the mesa, where Anton and four others waited, ropes in hand.
“You’re not climbing down. You will tie yourselves to these ropes, and they will lower you down very quickly and pull the ropes back up when you’re done. Wait for the signal.”
With that he was off again, leaving Yaric and the others to nervously tie ropes around their waists in the moonlight.
Ten minutes later Yaric heard the thunks from the siege bows and saw multiple flashes of light illuminating the trees in the distance. Shouts broke out far away and combined with the strobing flashes to create a lot of confusion. Bright lights flashed across the trees below as well, hopefully blinding anyone there, as Yaric felt someone slap his shoulder.
Glancing at Li Na, Kaeden, Kaylin and Marlon, who was busy hugging all eight flags to his body, Yaric took a deep breath. Then he walked over the edge of the cliff.
Sven returned in time to watch Yaric and the others go over the edge, their ropes held in leather wrapped hands that let the coils slide rapidly. Once they were on the ground, Yaric led the others straight into the trees, and Sven didn’t pick up any sign of their being spotted.
So far everything seemed to be going ok. It would all rely on Yaric capturing a fort, and everyone else buying him time. The flags were gone, the timer stopped, and the die cast.
Yaric led everyone through the dark forest, not bothering to hide his destination. If anyone was following them the game was already up. His only allowance was to move 2 kilometers further south and then to run parallel to the direct route. It wouldn’t do to run into anyone moving to or from the camp.
They made very good time, arriving just after midnight. No one was on the walls, but remembering what had happened on his previous midnight visit, Yaric slipped over the wall quietly, followed by the rest of his squad.
The camp was empty, and every room in the building was too, so Yaric quietly snuck up the stairs and onto the roof.
There was a lookout. And he was asleep.
Yaric couldn’t kill him, or he’d return shortly and warn the others. But he also couldn’t be allowed to escape. So Yaric did the only thing he could. He stabbed him. In the stomach.
The lookout jerked awake as his shield flashed, making for his weapon but sliding over and landing on his face. His shield was amber.
‘Dammit! That wasn’t meant to kill him!’
Yaric rolled him over, fumbling for one of the bandages. The shield faded when it was applied, but so did some of the paralysis. The lookout started reaching for his weapon again.
Yaric punched him in the face, causing a shield to flash over both his fist and the guy’s face.
“What are you doing?” the lookout asked in shock. It was one of the 6th years who’d been kept behind, and Yaric didn’t know his name.
“Stopping you,” he answered, embarrassed and feeling guilty.
Li Na stepped past just then and brought her mace down on the lookout’s knee.
“He’s the enemy, not your friend,” she said over her shoulder, already on her way back inside. “Good luck escaping with that knee!”
Yaric dragged to crippled lookout down and into the passageway, where he tied up the hapless guard. With no items to tie him to, Yaric had to get creative, so he simply dropped a spear on the floor in the doorways of opposite rooms, then tied the lookout’s hands and feet to the spear on each end, leaving him spreadeagled in the corridor.
Marlon, meanwhile, had already set up the flags. The fort was theirs, and the timer was started.
Day 21 was the last supply drop on the 3-day schedule, but Team Shadow was busy. Their nighttime attack had not gone down well, and actually served to keep their opponents up throughout the night. They were quick to return the favor once the sun rose.
Their first assault actually came very close to breaking through. Both of their earlier strategies were combined. Like the previous assault, everyone equipped themselves with large shields, and many carried axes, with the intention being to chop down the walls. This time though, they attacked more like they did the first time, charging the walls individually and spread out, with shields raised high to protect only themselves.
It looked unorganized, but it made the siege bows all but useless, and the thirty archers were hardly noticed. Very few casualties were taken before reaching the wall, where they set to work chopping at the palisades while their own archers fired on the wall to keep the defenders away.
That was where Yaric’s first idea came into play. Team Shadow lifted the platforms Sven had helped him design and build, and dropped them into place on the other side of the wall. Yaric had called it a ‘hoarding’, and it turned out to be very effective.
They attached securely to the wall and created a small platform outside, where archers could stand and fire down the wall in any direction. The platforms were completely covered in front, blocking archers in the tree line, but allowed the defenders to easily fire at anyone against the walls.
They quickly worked out the assault force were defending themselves by putting their shields over their heads, so they started shooting at people further away, shooting them in the sides inside of straight down on their heads.
Even so, it was still a close call. The five hoardings only allowed ten archers to fight that way, and the numbers they were up against were truly ridiculous. It took the addition of all of their own incendiaries, used against targets right next to their own walls, for them to push back the attackers. On the plus side, they inflicted more casualties than they ever had before.
At midday their reinforcements started arriving. Just as Sven had predicted, one person had been sent to each trail, summoning the returning members straight back to the fight, along with their supplies.
The next assault came just after lunch, and it was a total failure. Team Shadow was actually laughing from on top of the walls as they watched Team Not Shadow fumble about. They’d used another one of Yaric’s tricks, his weirdest one, and it had been hilarious.
Not Shadow had adapted. Seeing how effective the hoardings had been, they repeated their previous strategy, only this time with long spears, so they could attack any archers firing down at them. They had no idea that the entire stock of incendiaries had already been used.
None of the hoardings were lifted into place.
Instead, the defenders all crouched down behind their wall, holding the long net of ropes that Yaric had got everyone to make. It was as long as the entire wall and 3 meters wide. Lauren had helped them practice throwing it, as it required a surprising amount of coordination, and Yaric had instructed them to only use it against spearmen.
Once Team Shadowless were at the wall, everyone lifted the net as one, tossing it over. Every second person held either the close end or the furthest end, and depending on which end they held, either threw the net over the wall or away.
The entire net fell on the attacking force, in what should have been more like a prank than anything else. No one had expected much.
The net fell on the attackers, with every raised spear going right through the net. As they were right up against the wall, that was every spear. It wasn’t even that bad to just keep the net over themselves, but in a group of two hundred students, some disagreed.
People started pulling on the net, trying to get it off. Spears that were sticking though were ripped out of some hands, while others held on and pulled back. Anyone with their heads sticking through quickly found themselves being choked, and just seconds later, others were being pulled off their feet by those who were yanking on the net. One person could easily escape. Two hundred people who were supposed to be working as one? It was like they were at war with each other.
All cohesion was lost, along with every spear, and the hoardings were quickly thrown back into place. Targets were even easier to pick off now, and some of Team Too Many started fighting amongst themselves. Most soon had enough, and crawled out to run for the trees, to howling laughter from inside the fort.
Only two things could have made it better. One, some of the attackers had the presence of mind to drag the net with them, denying Team Shadow the chance to get it back for reuse. And two, Yaric wasn’t there to see his plan in action. Li Na would have enjoyed it as well.
The afternoon assault didn’t go as well, despite everything working as expected. This time, the attackers all formed groups of three, with two in front interlocking shields, and the third hiding behind them with a bag.
Everyone knew that they would be facing an incendiary attack themselves now.
As soon as the first groups were close to throwing range, Delmar gave the signal for the nets to be raised. The poles attached to the back of the platform behind the palisade were swung up and over, where they rested against the inside of the palisade wall, sticking out at an angle. The camouflaged netting strung between them acted as a barrier, catching the clay pots as they were tossed, and dropping them on the ground below.
Most of the flammable liquid ran down the ramparts, but sections of the wall did catch fire. The actual target had been the defenders on top of the wall, but the nets at least ensured that only the base caught fire, while the defenders on top simply continued firing through the nets.
Sven counted that as a double win, as twice now they had used nets to foil their attackers. And what were nets if not ropes tied in a pattern?
Day 21 also saw the first attacks launched against the cliffs on the flanks of the mesa, but those were hardly a threat. The archer nests were slid out and were so effective that the attackers quickly gave up. Sven only regretted not letting them climb higher before giving the go ahead to deploy the nests. They could have inflicted far more casualties if they had allowed more people to start climbing the rock face before opening fire.
Yaric, meanwhile, was sitting comfortably in Andrew’s camp. They had waited until the afternoon, then Li Na had clubbed the lookout over the head, sending him out of the competition. He was getting a weeklong vacation.
They weren’t idle, however.
If anyone came in a hurry, they would be coming down the hill to the north, so Yaric got busy trapping the entire slope. All he did was make a loop of rope by staking both ends into the earth, making sure there was a lot of slack, and then folded some of the grass underneath, to hold the loops 15-25cm’s off the ground.
Of course, tripping someone coming down the hill wouldn’t help much, so he added sharpened stakes 1-2 meters below each loop, trying to ensure they would be in position to catch someone between their stomach and face. With two of his squad helping, they managed to get the upper half littered with the traps by the end of the first day, just when Sven managed to put out the last fire.
Day 21 had come close to disaster, but Day 22 went all the way.
With the other teams also feeling the pressure, the first assault started early. The same groups of three rushed the wall, tossing cut wood and kindling against the wall, before retreating backward to fetch more. A constant stream of flammable materials was brought forward, quickly piling high.
Then came the torches.
Flames soon climbed high over the walls, making it impossible to attack, but also forcing the defenders back. The fires were constantly fed as well, eventually setting fire to the palisade and beginning the long process of burning through. A stiff breeze fanned the flames even higher, forcing Sven to start preparing for a retreat up the cliff.
The platform behind the wall caught fire too, bring sections down and ensuring that the wall would be harder to defend even if it stayed standing.
Which it didn’t.
No more than fifty archers fired on the wall, with the rest being pulled into the assault team. Then they charged in again, spread out with their shields up, some carrying axes and some spears. The smoke made it even more difficult to hit anyone, allowing Team No Flags to get right up against the wall without any problem. Sven wasn’t sure if they had taken any casualties on their approach.
On the upside, Lauren had redirected the fire from the siege bows, shifting their target from attackers to the team leaders issuing commands from the tree line. There was no point trying to hit scattered students all running as fast as they could, but the huddle at the rear made for a large, stationery target, even if it would be a long-range shot.
One of the bolts tore right through them, causing two crimson shields to flash into existence.
Everything else fell to pieces, in some cases literally.
The sound of chopping alerted everyone to the danger, forcing them to deploy the hoardings. Spears quickly started ripping through the gaps, and they soon learned that they could use spears to cut the ropes holding everything to the wall.
Three fell, and one hung from a single rope, dangling precariously from the palisade and swinging in the wind. Team Shadow lost eight fighters just from those who had been on the hoardings.
Lauren led half of the remaining fighters down to the ground in front of the cliff, in order to defend the barricades. It didn’t take long for holes to start forming in the wall.
At first they held everyone back, firing the siege bows through any holes in the wall and keeping up a constant barrage of arrows, but each time the attackers just moved on to making another hole. Soon there were too many to defend, and they started pouring in behind raised shields.
No one noticed when Lauren and half her squad disappeared, dropping down into Yaric’s last and largest contribution to their defenses. Most of the attackers were clustered at the base of the wall, looking through the gaps they had made or moving through themselves. None of them were looking back at the trench outside, so no one saw when the vertical wall facing the fort fell away in two sections, revealing the hidden entrance to the two tunnels that had been dug right at the beginning, travelling 4 meters down and going under everything. Nor did they notice the five archers that exited each, carefully taking aim at the backs of their attackers.
Some did notice when their comrades dropped beside them, covered in a red shield, and causing them to hug the wall for protection. But no one missed the second volley, scoring a total of eighteen kills in just three seconds. Lauren and her squad managed to get off a third before they were forced to run back in, dropping down and using their lighting stones to navigate over the piles of dead branches that covered the floor of the tunnels.
Two shields were propped up a few meters in, blocking the tunnel but invisible in the darkness, before torches were lit and fires started all the way down, creating thick clouds of grey smoke.
Lauren exited the tunnel to find almost everyone else already glowing red, and immediately decided to abandon the ground level. They were just taking too many casualties, and there weren’t enough fighters left.
The covered rope ladders provided protection while they climbed up to the rear platform. There were only six archers left, firing desperately yet futilely at Team Flagless. Making the call, Lauren had everyone abandon the ground floor entirely, and start climbing to the top of the mesa. After checking to make sure no one else was still in the competition, Lauren climbed up as well and give the signal for the ropes to be cut. Every rope ladder crashed to the ground.
They had lost everything over the last two days, but still needed to try and hold back every other team for one more. Slightly more than one more. And to make matters worse, their attackers believed they only had until midday, and they would be doing everything they could to defeat the nineteen Shadows that remained on the mesa before then.
Day 22 was another easy day for Yaric and his squad. They were very apprehensive about how things were going, but they themselves didn’t have much to do. Yaric still wanted to try and prepare, just in case, and ended up choosing Kaylin’s idea to use fire. It would only work for as long as there was fuel, but it would still buy some time. So they got to work digging a very shallow trench, if you could even call it that. Just 10cm’s deep, it was nevertheless 4 meters wide, and covered the area around the wall. Once they were done, they started collecting all of the remaining offcuts from the pile at the back, carefully arranging the best tinder at the bottom, and then piling larger and larger pieces over. They even stripped the bedding inside and started making trips into the forest for more.
With so few people around, they worked to the sounds of birdsong in the trees and the rustling of leaves in the wind. It was warm and sunny, making for an idyllic forest retreat. One that was surrounded by vicious traps and a semi-complete wall of fire, but idyllic all the same.
They were taking turns to sleep, so work continued throughout the night. Being very aware that everyone else was fighting hard, they kept themselves busy, feeling guilty that the others were facing volleys of arrows while they faced the hard choice of which rations they would leisurely snack on.
That’s not to say that they didn’t have their own stress, far from it. Every second felt like the moment seven teams would come storming out of the forest, furious after discovering they had been tricked. There was a lot of pressure on them to keep the flags safe. They just weren’t fighting off large scale assaults and taking cover to avoid volleys of arrows.
Yaric was already up when the sky started turning pink, heralding the dawn on Day 23. By midnight that night Team Shadow would be either victorious, or devastated. Either way, Yaric knew that very few had ever achieved what they had already done so far. He wanted to win. Desperately. But even if they lost now, they could still hold their heads high.
Lauren watched the sun rise, wondering how Yaric and the others were doing. Things were not looking good.
Some time during the night, the other teams had dismantled all of the defenses in their fort below. That would have been bad enough, but they had also managed to scale the massive trunks holding up Sven’s platforms, and had set up their own camp there. Large shielded structures were being completed at a rapid rate, structures that even now were being hauled up to the platform.
Just 3 meters lower than the cliff face, they were putting a lot of faith in Sven’s construction skills by preparing to launch their assault from his platform.
Team Shadow was in tatters. It was better than the night before, but that wasn’t saying much. They were all exhausted and stretched far too thin. Only three had remained awake to keep watch, allowing the others to sleep. Today was their last day in the competition for a while, and if all went well, for good.
They could slow down what was coming, but there was no stopping it.
No more attempts were made to scale the cliffs on the flanks, so every available barricade was brought to the front. Layers were created all the way back to their fort, and spare shields and spears were placed along the way.
Every remaining quiver was inside, where archers would be able to fire from cover.
This time the sun was in Team Shadow’s eyes. The pink glow had shifted through reds and oranges to a bright blue, clear sky, while the wind from the day before had settled down into a gentle breeze, cool in the already warm sunlight. Around them, the forest seemed to be overflowing with life, even up on the mesa, as if the forest had no idea what was about to happen. Or it just didn’t care.
The attack began soon after 9am. Team Treehouse threw everything they had at the mesa, sparing nothing.
Archers fired continuously, with no effort made to conserve arrows. Arrows loosed from the platform streaked over the edge, forcing heads down, while arrows fired from the ground dropped in plunging fire from above.
Ladders were raised up from the platform and dropped onto the mesa, somehow secured to the platform below.
Then they started coming, like a never-ending wave. The ladders all had a large wall of planks at the end, stripped from their own platforms below. It was impossible to fire on anyone while they climbed, and once they were up, they came around either the left or right side with shields already raised.
None of them attacked yet, they just formed a larger and larger shield wall, with more taking cover behind them.
Finally, a whistle was blown, and the fighters huddled behind the shield wall surged around, charging the meager defenses.
Team Shadow broke almost immediately. The barricades were far from enough to stop the attack, doing nothing but slow them down, and the sheer weight of numbers started to overwhelm the defenders.
Sven was already engaged with two attackers, sword and shield in hand, and only barely hanging on.
Lauren had quickly found she could use the side of the tree stumps to push sideways, allowing her to hold back three others with her spear. Her unpredictable movements actually let her take one of them out, but he was replaced a moment later, putting her back where she started.
Anton had his large axe, and he was keeping the momentum going with large swings and quick jabs.
Team Shadow met the assault all across the mesa, falling one by one and getting pushed back. They were down to five when Sven gave his final command.
“Get inside the fort. Keep them out!”
Then he ran straight for one of his attackers, pinning the sword and pushing him over, only just blocking the thrust from his other opponent. He deflected the second thrust and stepped forward, preemptively punching out with his shield to knock his opponents shield wide, and delivering a thrust of his own.
Sven had barely perceived the red glow of a shield before he was already turning, thrusting down at the first attacker as he got back to his feet. With both down, he had a moment to glimpse Lauren, her hair now slipped free and swinging around her face, fighting off two more while retreating into the fort. Then he turned back to face the attack, intent on buying as much time as he could.
THUD!
Sven fell alongside the shattered arrow, his shield already red. Boots soon came running past him, and he heard the sound of breaking pottery behind him, followed by cheering. The smell of smoke soon followed.
“Thought you were going to win, didn’t you?” Andrew laughed, leaning down next to Sven. "There’s a reason I’ve always been number one, and now you’re stuck in the same year as me, so you better get used to this.”
Andrew leaned closer and lowered his voice. “And between you and me, this is your last day anyway. This competition will be over before you come back in six days. I'll only need three…” Andrew laughed and started walking away, leaving Sven feeling relieved that the medallion’s paralysis was so effective.
He didn’t think he'd have been able to keep the smile off his face any other way.
“You weren’t on the same team back then, so you won’t know this, but I was once in this exact position with your dead friend over there,” Andrew called from outside the fort. “I’m going to make you the same offer I made him last year. Come out now and surrender. Hand over the flags and we’ll just tie you up and leave. There’s no need for any of you to be knocked out for the next week.”
“What was Sven’s reply last year?” Lauren shouted back, stalling for time.
“That dumbass tried to get me to come inside to discuss it,” Andrew replied, sounding angry. “He thought he could get me surrounded and outnumbered so he could actually beat me. It’s insulting that he thought I was that stupid.
“But that time the cocky bastard had a tunnel to escape in, like a rat. I somehow doubt you’ve managed to dig through solid rock, and I don’t see any reason for any of you to get knocked out now.”
…
…
…
“Well, what’s your answer?” Andrew shouted after a few minutes of uncomfortable silence.
“My answer to what? You were telling a story.”
“Will you come out and surrender or not?!” Andrew bellowed, losing his temper.
“Come in here and we can discuss it...”
Andrew had enough torches in his camp that Yaric had been able to strip many of them. The oiled leather now lay in strips underneath everything else, stretched from one end to the others, with pieces sticking out that could easily be lit. There was nothing else they could do to get the fire going faster. His only hope now was that they wouldn’t need to do anything.
‘Half a day left… I hope they don’t start running out of arrows…’
Six attempts had been made to get down the narrow passage into the fort, and all six had been repelled. They forced their way down easily enough, but once they walked past one of the holes in the wall, a quick spear thrust to the side was all it took. No one even knew what happened, and they soon gave up.
The argument over what to do had been funny to listen to, especially when the topic shifted to who would get what flags. They hadn’t even settled on a plan before beginning to argue over the spoils. Some, like Simon, wanted to return everyone’s flag and draw sticks for the extra, but others, like Andrew, felt that some teams shouldn’t get any, especially those that didn’t have a leader.
“That’s ridiculous!” Chelsea shouted. “Cormac led the fight right through the wall. We can’t be penalized because he did his job!”
“Did he though? I wasn’t hit by an arrow, so I’d say I’m doing a better job. Our team lost less people, so it's bigger right now, meaning we should get the larger share."
It suddenly dawned on the others that The Behemoths were seldom seen at the front, and they immediately ganged up on him. They’d all gone out of their way to be sure to carry their own weight, and now Andrew was levelling subtle threats.
“I don’t see the problem,” he replied. “A team leader is supposed to look out for his team. That’s what I did. Not my problem that you didn’t do your jobs, and yet another reason why I should get more flags. I'd say my share is at least half by now.”
“Chris took a giant arrow to the face! One of those arrows from those crazy bows they were using. If anyone should get extra flags it should be us!”
The argument went back and forth until Simon pointed out that no one actually had any flags yet, and they got back to the task of flushing the last defenders from the annoying fort. At least with the fort having been directly attacked, with something capable of destroying it, the 72 hour period had reset, taking all of the pressure off the attackers.
“Burning them out is still the easiest,” Artur said, going back to his original argument. Andrew and Rikard had had a major falling out the night before, leading Andrew to publicly replace him with Artur and John. Rikard had wanted to honor the arrangement with the other teams, while Artur and John had vehemently disagreed. They were of the opinion that the only acceptable outcome was total victory, something that Andrew wholeheartedly agreed with. That they also held Sven and Yaric responsible for their defeat the year before was an added bonus, though Andrew privately believed that they would have been kept back anyway. He was the only one who truly didn’t deserve to repeat a year. There was only one number one after all.
“We’ve already discussed this, we can’t risk damaging the flags,” Patrick replied. “This is a capture mission. That also means keeping the target safe.”
“And they don’t have many players left,” Simon pointed out. “Let’s just smoke them out.”
The smoking out option was soon adopted, and not long after, Lauren and her team found themselves choking on thick white smoke. It was only midday, but they wouldn’t be able to hold out for much longer.
Drastic measures were needed.
“Help me pull the platform down,” Lauren choked out, tears streaming down her face. Her throat was burning from the acrid smoke, and the inside of the fort was getting hazier by the minute. There wasn’t much time left.
Chopping wood was tiring and made them get out of breath, a bad combination in the increasingly smoky fort. The other teams outside all heard the chopping, but they knew there would be no way to block out the smoke. As time went on the hacking coughs started getting louder than the chopping, and soon after the chopping stopped altogether while the coughing somehow got worse.
Lauren suddenly burst out one of the exits, followed closely by another. Squinting in the bright light and with both eyes watering, Lauren charged at her nearest opponent, her spear taking one in the throat, and then another in the heart, before several arrows struck her and took her down in turn. Her teammate also managed to get a thrust in before he too was taken down, with the same scene playing out at the other exit point.
The last five members of Team Shadow lay unmoving under crimson shields - the same color as the flames now licking at the sides of their fort.
Simon stood with his hands on his head as the smoke from their smoldering pile was quickly outstripped by the smoke coming from inside. The heat was already too intense for anyone to get inside, and there was very little water available on top of the mesa.
The fire only grew over the next two hours, spreading from one pole to another, until the entire structure was a raging inferno. Lauren and the others had long since left, moving to wait outside the competition area and see if Yaric would manage to hold out.
Team Still Without A Flag was forced to watch the fort burn down, with the flames only starting to die down that evening. It took even longer for the ruins to become bearable, at which point they started shifting what was left of the poles and digging through the ashes. It was already dark when they finally accepted reality.
There were no flags.
“Maybe they’re hidden somewhere around here?” Patrick asked.
“Impossible. If you aren’t storing them in a fort, they have to be held by someone at all times.”
“Did anyone see Yaric get killed? I bet he’s hiding somewhere up here,” Anton said, already starting to look around.
“Maybe they aren’t up here anymore?” Chelsea suggested.
“That’s also impossible. As soon as we took their fort yesterday, we knew they might run. It’s what they did to Andrew last year. We’ve had people watching every angle ever since. Chris even made sure to warn us in case something happened to him,” Yusaf said.
“Then they must have been taken before then, there’s no other possibility.”
“That wouldn’t make any sense, they’d be giving up any chance of victory.”
“What about the first night?” Simon asked. “They fired those big crossbows pointlessly into our camp, and kept hitting us with lights. We thought they were trying to keep us awake and annoy us so we would start fighting each other more often. What if they blinded us so we wouldn’t see anyone leave?”
“Same problem. Why? They had good defenses and a chance of winning. We only beat them with a few hours to spare, and there were over three hundred of us vs fifty. Why give up the win condition, unless you think Yaric went off to build a fort by himself?” Yusaf answered.
“I’m not saying it was Yaric or anyone else, just that we know the flags came up three days ago and aren’t here now. They can’t have left over the last day, so they left earlier. Maybe they are trying to build another one. If it’s hidden, it could work.”
Chelsea opened her mouth to speak, but suddenly froze, eyes wide with shock and with a thousand-yard stare, causing everyone to focus their attention on her. “They do have another fort,” she almost whispered.
“What?! And you bring that up now?!” Andrew practically roared.
“You already know it, we all do. Their original fort. The building we start with. Yaric just had to sneak back during the first night and place the flags there!” she said, her voice growing louder with each word. “That was three days ago now!”
“Calm down, Yaric or whoever would have had to wait until later to leave, it’s only just got dark. We should still have time and all we have to do is walk through the front door. We should probably run to make sure though,” Simon suggested.
“At least it’s his only option,” Yusaf added.
This time it was Simon who started. “Maybe it’s not? Why couldn’t someone use any one of our camps?” Simon turned to look over his shoulder. “Stuart!” he yelled. “Did we get those supplies from our camp?”
“Yes!” came the reply from the darkness. “Everything was delivered.”
Catching on quickly, the others all started checking to see if there had been any contact with their base camps. Everything seemed fine and they were just about to leave for Team Shadow’s original camp in the south when Rikard strode out of the darkness.
“Andrew!” he hissed. “I told you yesterday, Richard never came to switch places. We haven’t seen or heard from him!”
Everyone whipped around to listen in.
“So?” Andrew shrugged. “We all know how lazy he is. And who invited you here, huh?”
“He’s never missed a shift before, ever!”
“Stop your whining and…”
Andrew never got to finish, because the next moment Simon was in his face.
“No, you stop! All you ever do is complain. Everything is always someone else’s fault. You have a serious attitude problem and a temper to match! Everything your friend just said is important, but you can’t get your head out of your own ass!”
Andrew looked like he was about to strike Simon when Chelsea cut in.
“Enough! They’re both important. Those are the only two possible places. There’s no time to fight, they could be about to win any minute now! We split up – Simon, you and Andrew go and check Andrew’s base camp. Take Patrick as well. The rest of us will go to the original camp and check there. Spearhead are right in the middle, we can meet up there afterward.”
Chelsea didn’t leave any room for discussion, as she simply turned on her heel and strode off, calling for her team to assemble. The teams making up Team Sad Because No Flags organized themselves as well, with neither Simon nor Andrew saying another word to each other, and Rikard also being ignored by Andrew.
Simon actually pulled Rikard aside along with Chelsea, and suggested that he go with her instead. He didn’t think Andrew would react well if they found out he’d been right, and he suspected it would be just as bad if he turned out to be wrong.
They were ready in record time, standing outside the still smoking ruins of a once proud, yet very short-lived fort. Both groups split up, running into the moonlit forest, chasing ghosts in a race against time.
Yaric wished he knew how much time was left. The suspense and anticipation were really hitting hard. This was it, any second now and they could really be outright winners with a new record. Li Na was bouncing up and down on the wall, watching the north, while Yaric watched the west, the only other direction they were likely to be attacked from, with their mesa being northwest of their position.
The north side was still more likely due to the terrain, so with Kaylin and Kaeden on the other walls, Marlon had been sent to the other side of the north hill with signal arrows. He would let everyone know to start lighting the fires if he saw anything. With the traps that infested the northern hill he would be forced to run all the way around and climb the wall on Yaric’s side, but he could make it. If an attack came from the west, he’d be cut off.
The risk was worth it.
And just like that, a shrill whistle cut through the nighttime air, screaming its way through the star-studded sky. He’d seen something, and with the 72 hours due to be over any minute, it could only be one of the other teams.
Yaric raised his torch and waved to the other lookouts, moving around to make sure Kaylin on the east wall could see him. Then they lit their torches and jumped down, moving slowly along the piles of firewood and making sure that the kindling caught.
On the way back, Yaric even picked up a few convenient pieces and tossed them to the other side, trying to get the fire to spread faster.
Three minutes later, students started filtering out of the trees above the hill, staring down at the small yet bright fires that added color to the otherwise monochrome background. Yaric thought he heard the now familiar snarl Andrew always made when he lost his temper, then watched as dozens of students charged down the hill at the five defenders.
Dozens of students who started falling one after another, face first into a row of stakes. Red and amber shields started adding their own splash of color to the scenery, glittering like magical flowers on the hill before them.
Startled yells and panicked shouts started coming from the hill, finally bringing everyone to a stop. Seeing the shields glowing around them, they started picking their way down more carefully. It didn’t take long for someone to run into a trap and call out what he’d found, though one more person still managed to trip and eat stake for dinner.
Every second counted.
Marlon came running up to the wall at that moment, so Yaric let down a rope and ran around to join Li Na at the north wall, leaving Marlon to cover the west. By now the fire was starting to catch nicely, with the larger logs on top starting to burn as well, but the smoke from the fresher wood was obscuring their view.
A few minutes later and they could easily hear the other teams behind the smoke, clearly standing right next to the trench. The flames were really climbing now, leaping over a meter into the air and belching thick smoke. It created a fantastic backdrop to the arguing going on on the other side, with the smoke flickering between red and orange near the bottom and transitioning to clear white in the moonlight higher up.
Yaric moved closer to Li Na, trying to hear what was being said over the sound of a crackling bonfire.
“They’re digging,” was all Li Na said, pointing slightly to her other side. “Heard them say they’re gonna make a bridge over the fire.”
“But we piled the branches so high, don’t they realize how much dirt they’ll need to bury it all?”
Li Na just shrugged. “Sounds like a them problem.”
They watched in silence as the fire grew even more intense, still burning through some of the smaller pieces of wood that had been in the last areas to catch alight. A light breeze kept fanning the flames until a few minutes later, when it shifted the smoke enough for them to see Andrew standing slightly higher on the slope, studying the flames.
Yaric suddenly noticed that their side of the wall was glowing too, and not red or orange, but a bright, warm gold.
“Look at the windows!” he said excitedly. The arrow slits framing the room with the flags in it were releasing a golden glow, looking like a gold aura in the drifting smoke. “We must be close!”
Andrew couldn’t see from the other side of the fire, but he was still shouting out instructions to those below him.
“Something is going on where they’re digging, I’m going to go see,” Li Na said, already walking casually down the wall. Li Na made it to the spot directly opposite the digging and turned to listen carefully. She stood motionless for several seconds, then turned to say something to Yaric.
She never got the chance. Yaric watched helplessly as Andrew burst through the smoke like an arrow, catapulted straight for Li Na with his shield across his body. His other arm was already cocked back, ready to throw.
‘Credit where credit is due, this really is personal. John and Artur were right, they are targeting me. There is no other reason for them to choose to use my camp, unless they plan to humiliate me. Everyone always goes for the person on top.’
Andrew looked down at the frantic digging below, watching as more and more dirt was thrown over the flames. Most of the flames were killed quickly, but it took a lot of dirt to cover everything properly. They’d also needed to start making the path wider than anticipated, as the fire was so hot they needed a wide buffer.
Andrew knew that it was in times like this that people looked to a leader, and he didn’t intend to disappoint. That arrogant idiot Simon had fallen prey to a trap so simple a child could have come up with it, proving once again who was best. He’d be out of the competition for days. That left the leadership role entirely to Andrew, as Patrick certainly wasn’t going to step up.
And so here he stood, trying to judge the distance through the annoying smoke. Fire seemed to be a thing with these people, odd for a team that called themselves Team Shadow. Well, fire and nets. It was like an obsession. Actually, fire, nets, traps and bows. They definitely had a cowardly pattern.
Looking down, Andrew saw that they were almost ready. He checked the straps on his heater shield, making sure they were tight, then carefully placed his spare incendiary into his shield hand, splaying his fingers past the handle to grip the clay pot with his fingertips. With his sword secured tightly against his side, he picked up the other incendiary in his right hand, ready to throw.
All he had to do was get one through a window, and the fire would ensure the timer stopped. After that they could just wait out the fire surrounding his basecamp and take these assholes at his leisure. Not that he would waste any time of course, they did have all eight flags after all.
That’s why John and Artur had been given extra instructions, beyond what they were setting up now. Once the flags were secured, they were to make sure that his team were ready to take out the competition. All he had to do was meet up with Chelsea outside the Spearheads, let her know that there hadn’t been any sign of Team Shadow in his camp, and pretend to be busy searching while the timer counted down. No one with Chelsea had any team members here. Even if they noticed that Patrick and his team were missing, or Simon and his ‘players’, they weren’t Andrew’s responsibility. They’d probably run off to try and find the missing flags first. No one would check his basecamp. He'd win long before anyone would be coming back to rat on him.
Seeing that everyone was ready, Andrew took his position. Taking a deep breath, he exhaled loudly, then shot forward, sprinting down the hill toward the short bridge that had so far been extended by a meter, where Artur and John crouched in wait, their own shields strapped on and ready for Andrew to use as a springboard.
Kicking hard, Andrew pushed off against the rising shields, launching himself into the billowing smoke. He closed his eyes for a second, blocking out the stinging cloud, before bursting out the other side.
He immediately saw that his trajectory was good. As long as he lifted his legs, he would clear the wall. Even better, that Lina girl who’d enjoyed mocking him was directly ahead, her eyes wide with shock.
Andrew crouched tightly behind his shield, twisting to his right to put his shield arm in front while tucking in his legs. He knew he’d smash right through her.
Flicking his eyes to his right, he quickly took in the shocked expression on Yaric’s face.
‘That’s right. You stole my victory from me last year like a coward, now you can watch as I snatch yours! I’ll take what’s mine.’
His eyes darted back to the approaching wall, watching with disappointment as the short blond girl stepped to the side.
‘No matter, she just gets to watch their plans burn,’ Andrew thought, chuckling to himself at his own joke.
As the wall approached, Andrew arced high enough to see the windows, clearly framed by golden light.
‘How can they be so stupid?!’
All this happened in under 2 seconds, only possible due to his superior abilities allowing him to augment his own thoughts. Andrew stretched his arm back further, ready to throw, just as he cleared the wall.
Yaric watched in horror as Andrew was spat out of the clouds of smoke, shooting straight for Li Na at a crazy speed. His stomach sank as Li Na was forced to step to the side, and he saw Andrew reaching back with something in his hand, at the same time as Li Na reached back with both of hers.
THUNK!!!
A brilliant red flash lit up the night at the same time as the sound of steel smashing into steel echoed around the hills. Yaric blinked once and it was over, but the entire scene was etched in his mind.
Li Na with her arms still behind her but now on her left side, twisted at the waist with her mace clutched tightly.
Andrew with his convex shield now decidedly concave, his body wrapped around it as he flew backward, legs flapping uselessly underneath, his throwing arm spasming around the side, and his head stretched over the top, a look of utter shock and bewilderment as he was sent back the way he’d come, but this time moving even faster.
He flew like a meteor, not only glowing brightly with his mage shield, but burning brightly too, as he’d somehow exploded into flames, the inside of his shield dripping fire and leaving a burning trail in his wake like a flaming comet.
Then he was gone, swallowed by the billowing clouds as if he’d never existed.
The object in his hand sailed limply over the wall, landing on the ground a few meters past the wall and bursting uselessly into flames. Bursting from the smoke outside the wall, a cloud of cinders flew up into the air like a swarm of angry fireflies, followed almost immediately by cries of alarm, a last sign of Andrew’s passing as he struck his pyre.
Li Na just looked down at her hands, also looking confused, and walked over to Yaric. Yaric still hadn’t moved, and just stood with his mouth open.
Coming to stop right in front of him while still staring at her hands, Li Na put down her mace, looking up for the first time as she held her hands up for him to see, as if she were holding a large bowl.
“That hurt...” she said earnestly.
…
…
…
“HAHAHA!”
Yaric burst out laughing, breaking the tension he’d been feeling and pulling her into a hug, still laughing.
“Hugs don’t actually help you know,” she said, her voice muffled in his arms. “Only kids think that.”
Still, Li Na made no effort to move away. Yaric was still laughing when the entire sky lit up, bathing everything in a brilliant gold light.
Yaric stopped laughing instantly, letting Li Na go and whipping around to stare in awe. Everyone for miles around was doing the same. Utter silence descended, broken only by the crackling flames behind them.
Right on top of the stone building was a giant pillar, made out of golden light filled with deeper flecks of gold. As they watched, small silver orbs began circling, slowly spiraling their way up the pillar. They moved extremely fast, but they only climbed slightly higher with each rotation. As soon as they moved high enough, more formed underneath them, creating a long line of comets all chasing the one in front. Some moved clockwise, others anticlockwise, but they never seemed to intercept each other.
Slowly, the pillar started glowing brighter and brighter, and once it was almost too bright to look at, silver sparks began showering down the entire thing. Then it started to dim again, the light dying down to a soft glow once more.
After a few seconds the pillar began to brighten yet again, repeating its previous performance.
‘It’s pulsing!’
The other teams evidently came to the same conclusion, because desperate shouts started up behind him, and turning to look, Yaric realized that the shouts were starting to spread out. With the second pulse starting up behind him, someone flew through the air and hit the wall. They weren’t jumping nearly as high as Andrew had done, but they managed to drop straight down into the narrow gap between the fire and the wall. Caught between the wall and a hot place, they were left trying to make an awkward vertical jump, scrabbling up the side a few times before managing to grab hold at the top.
One student after another began flying out of the smoke, thudding into the wall and dropping to the ground. Some fell backward, landing in the fire. Those with shields seemed especially vulnerable, as there simply wasn’t enough space to hold a shield between yourself and the wall while still maintaining your balance.
But that didn’t make any difference, as they just kept on coming, spreading wider and wider as they did.
Yet another tidal wave of attackers for a tiny team to hold off.
“I hope they’re doing ok,” Lauren said for the tenth time that night, sitting with the rest of her team in front of the bonfire.
The other teams had all been celebrating earlier when nothing had happened, assuming that Team Shadow had lost. No one felt the need to enlighten them.
They were still celebrating even now, mistaking Team Shadow’s nervousness and subdued atmosphere for depression and defeat. Lauren was staring into the fire when startled gasps rang out all around the camp.
Turning, Lauren gasped as well, staring in awe at the massive golden pillar glowing in the distance. Everything was glowing for miles around, even the few wisps of clouds far above them, previously a faint silver under the moonlight.
“That’s the signal for the last minute,” Wizard Serina said from the doorway to her private cabin.
Lauren’s breath shuddered, and she clasped her hands firmly together, bouncing on the spot. Sven stepped up next to her, and a moment later all forty-five Shadows were clutching each other tightly and staring intently at the spectacle. No one dared to breathe, not even the members of the other seven teams who were still staring in shock.
Yaric nocked an arrow and jerked his head to indicate to Li Na that she needed to cover the right.
Firing down the right hand side was difficult, as he needed to get the whole bow over the side and then lean out far enough to draw. Firing left was comparatively easy, since he could just rotate his wrist and hold the bow horizontally.
3rd pulse.
The students below had quickly shouted for the others to leave their shields behind, stopping the stream of attackers that were constantly falling into the fire, but making Yaric’s job easier. Their attackers kept bobbing up and down, trying to jump vertically right next to a wall and with no space to bend their knees, but that only meant that there was a second where they squatted motionlessly, getting ready to jump.
It made them perfect targets.
Arrow after arrow flew from his bow. Li Na was jogging up and down the other side, casually swatting any head that popped up, 'lighting them up' every time.
4th pulse.
More and more students were jumping the flames, thudding into the wall at an ever-increasing frequency. It was already beyond what Yaric could hope to deal with on his own, and risking a glance to each side, Yaric saw it was the same for Marlon and Kaylin as well. He did see an arrow fly in from the other side to support Kaylin, so Kaeden seemed to be ok for now, adding his bow to help hit anyone making it up the flanks. That wouldn’t last forever though.
5th pulse.
Several students had made it the top so far, and Yaric realized that they weren’t the target.
“Keep them away from the building!” he yelled at the top of his lungs, loosing another arrow as he did and hoping that there weren’t any more firebombs.
Yaric was almost exclusively targeting people who were climbing over the wall now, hard-pressed to keep up with the never-ending stream. Li Na had an even worse time, as she needed to physically get close to her victims, and that was impossible with the stretch of wall she had to protect. Well, even more impossible.
6th pulse.
Marlon jumped down from his wall, abandoning his bow and racing for the open doorway that faced his side. He skidded to a stop in front, strapping on his shield and drawing his sword.
Yaric was forced to turn and fire into the camp, hitting one who’d made it past him and already jumped down.
7th pulse.
Three more climbed up to his left, and Yaric got the briefest glimpse of a fourth to his right just as he turned away. One was struck straight in the head from a range of only 2 meters, shattering the arrow on the instantly manifesting shield, and sending another attacker back into the flames.
Somewhere on the hillside, a wizard was furiously hissing a constant stream of profanity.
The second took an arrow to the torso just as he climbed over, his shield amber but still clearly incapacitated.
Taking a quick glance over his shoulder, Yaric was shocked to see that the fourth attacker had climbed up with his shield on his back, a shield which he had just finished strapping to his arm. The tall elf raised the shield before Yaric could finish turning, drawing his sword as he did.
Yaric hesitated for a moment, torn. Holding a bow would be a big problem if he was fighting inside melee range, but he was relying on its range to have any chance at all of holding back the tide. Panicking, Yaric dropped his aim and shot at the elf’s foot.
He missed the target from just 4 meters away, hitting the shinbone in his haste. A shield flashed briefly to block the arrow, and the elf’s leg buckled, the simulated leg injury paralyzing it. He fell away from the wall, too slow to grab the top of the wall due to the sword he held in that hand.
He tried to get his left hand under himself instead, not realizing that the bottom of his shield was already over the edge of the platform he stood on. Pulling his arm in only pulled the rest of his body even further over the edge, pushing him past the point of no return. Desperately, he rolled over on to his back, just as his upper body disappeared over the side, dropping his sword and trying to grab the platforms edge with his right hand. It was too little too late, and the last thing Yaric saw of the elf was the bottom of his boots as they disappeared from sight.
The last attacker leaped spectacularly, trying to land as close to the building as he could. Yaric made up for his poor shot just seconds before, loosing an arrow that struck the student in midair, leaving him paralyzed while still 3 meters off the ground.
Looking past him, someone else had come around the other side of the building and was running along the front, heading directly toward Yaric and straight for the door. An arrow to the heart stopped him just 2 meters away.
8th pulse.
Too many people were on the wall now. Li Na was facing off against seven attackers, three on one side and four on the other. Her only saving grace was that only one could come at her from each side, and the bright red glow coming from the ground below told its own story.
Not that it was necessary, as even while he watched, Yaric saw Li Na using the haft of her mace to directly block a cut to her side, leaving the mace at a 45° angle, a mace that she instantly thrust forward as if stabbing someone with a sword, the large head of the mace snapping the student's head back and sending him careening into his friends. Pivoting immediately, Li Na swung at the woman rushing her from behind, catching her attacker off guard and sending her back over the wall.
‘I wonder how many are lying on the other side?'
Those attackers were pinning Li Na in place, preventing her from helping out anywhere else, but at the same time, each of those attackers were themselves pinned and prevented from going for the building. Two attackers inside the camp charged at Marlon together, coordinating their attack and forcing him to pick just one. Marlon checked the first with his shield, but his desperate swipe at the other was blocked by a sword, letting the second attacker slip past and sprint for the doorway.
Yaric’s arrow was high, hitting him in the side of the head instead of the torso as intended, but the real skill was in predicting the lead his arrow needed, which was perfect. The glowing body slid to a stop less than a meter from the door.
9th pulse.
Very few people were left jumping up now, with almost everyone still standing either clambering over the top of the wall or already inside. The difficulty in getting up the wall had been a lifesaver, and the smoke obscuring their positions had definitely played a role as well, but their major advantage was ending.
The attack had changed too. By unspoken agreement, anyone who climbed up near a defender now went for that defender, keeping the attention off the others who went straight for the building.
Yaric knew he was outmatched, with several people approaching him from each side and others jumping down to go for the building.
Desperately, Yaric grasped for arrows from the quiver at his feet, opening the fingers of the hand already holding his bow and managing to grab four. Then he twisted and leaped away from the wall, only just getting clear of the swords that slashed from both sides.
Yaric continued twisting in midair, now facing the wall again, and loosed the arrow he already had nocked, taking one of the sword wielders in the neck.
He slid an arrow out of his bow hand, almost pulling the others out as he did, and nocked a second arrow, firing a second shot on his way down and striking another attacker who’d made it past Marlon.
Marlon was also on the ground, his shield amber.
Yaric landed heavily and tucked into a roll, grunting in pain despite his augmentation. Arrows spilled from his quiver, and when he rolled back to his feet, some of the arrows that had slid most of the way out tilted, jamming themselves just inside.
Taking another arrow from his hand, Yaric fired a third shot at someone leaping from the wall, nocked the second last arrow, and hit one of the three now charging him. With no time left to draw his bow, Yaric flung it to the side with his left hand while drawing his sword with his right, preparing to meet the two bearing down on him.
10th pulse.
Yaric lunged for the opponent on his left, thrusting his sword across his body and forcing that opponent to skid to a stop and deflect. Meanwhile, Yaric jumped hard toward the opponent trying to pass on his right, slamming his shoulder into her and sending her flying backward.
The first opponent moved to attack but hesitated, realizing that his path was now open. Yaric desperately lunged back toward him, stretching out and only just managing to score what would have been a shallow slash across the thigh. It wasn’t much, but the shield that flared to block the cut paralyzed him enough to make him stumble, forcing him to turn and face Yaric.
Yaric raised his sword – and froze. His shield had flared to life, and his arm glowed a brilliant crimson.
Everything went numb, his stomach dropped, and a feeling like cold water went down his spine.
It took him a second, but Yaric soon realized that he was still standing, and his medallion was also vibrating against his chest. He hadn't been hit...
High above, the spinning silver orbs had reached the top of the pillar. Like a moon breaking free of gravity, they ceased their rapid orbits and shot off in the direction they’d been going, launching across the sky like a shower of comets radiating out from above their heads.
Each of them started exploding randomly, filling the sky with a shower of gold and silver sparks. The moonlit forest seemed to sparkle under the light. Everyone paused to watch, mouths open.
The camp had been entirely silent for almost a minute, with over a hundered and fifty students standing with the staff, watching in wonder as the pillar pulsed over and over. Not a single person dared breathe. Then hundreds of birds took off in fright, shooting into the weird night sky, startled into the air by the sudden screaming and shouting coming from 45 ecstatic students, all of them hugging each other - jumping, spinning and dancing under glittering stars of silver and gold.
